


Spilt Milk

by CometCat



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man 3 - Fandom, Ironman, Spiderman Homecoming, Spiderman: Homecoming
Genre: Cancer, Character Death, Conflicted Tony Stark, Fluff, Hospital triggers, Protective Tony Stark, Sad Peter Parker, Tangled reference, Tonys peters gardian trope, fuck cancer, i love May i promise, im sorry, sad face, yes its may
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-02 22:40:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16796089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CometCat/pseuds/CometCat
Summary: Peter cries over spilt milk





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I read a sad thing so i wrote a sad thing

Two weeks

Two weeks Peter had been without his May

His May

She was gone and again, he did nothing to stop it.

Not that he really could, unless he miraculously discovered the cure for cancer in a three month period

Because that’s all it took

Three months

Three months for the disease to spread

To spread and to kill his aunt

  
Two weeks he’d been with Tony Stark

Two weeks Tony Stark had tried to cheer him up

Two weeks he had gone without a smile, or a ridiculous pun.

Tony even set them up, but they never came

  
Today was the first day he finally cried

Today he finally cried as he poured milk into his cereal

The milk that spilled over the edge in his day dream

The milk that tipped him over the edge

  
Tony was sitting on a bar stool on the backside of the kitchen counter, daily paper in one hand and long black coffee in the other. He looked up and gave a little smile as the teenager emerged from his room. His new room that Tony knew he wasn’t sleeping in properly. Because every night Tony sat down in the lab asking Friday to check up on the kid, and every time the response was the same. Of course he did sleep, not that it was enough to be a functioning human being, but Tony knew the drill. Considering he had been through it himself with his own parents.

The kid walked out, hair unkept, eyes drooping from a lack of sleep and face non changing. Tony had never seen Peter look anything to resemble the time framed zombie the boy had become. He would get up, eat, hide in his room, come out, eat, and so forth and so on. For two weeks, this had been the routine.

Of course Tony wanted to do something, comfort him in someway or another. A few times he has offered Peter to come down to the workshop and play around with some of the tech. Even tried bribing him with some nano teach, but the kid shook his head without any other words bah a rasp of a “No thanks” and continued on back to his room.

Tony didn’t know what to do, he hasn’t had to deal with kids, other than that one time… Harley. Peter reminded Tony of Harley a little, the guilt tripping puppy eyes, brain full of smarts and what not. But still none of that really helped Tony right now. He’d never had to legally and willingly take on the parental figure of a child.

Sure, he liked to think he was pretty close with the kid, he’s been over enough to know him inside and out. Its different though, 24 hours 7 days a week is way different than 4 hours 3 days a week. Pepper helped, a lot actually. Her and May had become close after the terrifying circumstance of May finding out about Peter’s second nature. But, it wasn’t fully enough because Tony still had to be there by him self with Peter more than anyone else.

Hell, he didn’t mind. He wanted to be, but it was hard not knowing what was the right thing and the wrong thing to do was. And this moment had turned to this conflicting thought once again.

Shit what do I do?

Tony went back to reading his paper after giving a warm “morning” as Peter trudged his way to the kitchen, he still looked the same as any other day for the past two weeks. He could hear the bowl connect with the bench, the cereal being poured inside, then the milk…

The milk that didn’t stop.

He looked up at a white trail of liquid as it came closer to his side of the counter top, he followed it to see Peter, his eyes glaring into nothingness with out any knowledge of what his subconscious being was doing. Tony didn’t say anything just stared at the bizarre scene.

And then it happened.

One second the milk was pouring over the edge of the bowl, the next Peter was crying.

Crying for the first time in two weeks, And Tony knew that in that moment Peter realised. He finally realised that life was still moving on, his Aunt was gone and he was still moving on. He was Living with out her, and she was gone. He was making breakfast without her and she was gone.

She was gone

She was gone

She was gone

  
Shit what do I do?

Tony frazzled and shocked put down his coffee and his Paper, which ironically landed in the milk, he stood and raced around to the other side of the counter. Just in time he wrapped the boy in a hug as the child’s knees gave out. They slowly slid down to the kitchen floor, not caring if they were huddled together in the milk.

The milk that was split.

The spilt milk that tipped him over the edge

He was crying over spilt milk.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dont ask me why, but i wrote a second chapter.   
> And its just as painful as the last one... maybe even more

3 months

Peter sat with her, every appointment she had Peter was there. He made suggestions, the doctors were impressed with his ideas, but they couldn’t do it. Not legally anyway, and if its not legal and it put’s a doctors reputation on the line theres no hope for success.

So that’s where they were at, the doctors gave her a timeframe and they decided to use it as best they could.

Three years they gave her… well they didn’t physically hand her three years to live, no one can put a perfect time stamp on an unpredictable death. But that’s what they said.

Its not what May got though

3 months

That’s what she got

Tony and Pepper were there the whole way through the last two months, they each held the two broken souls in their hearts.

2 months

2 months before she passed, Peter told Tony

He told Tony at the hospital after a frantic phone call to the mentor he didn’t realise he was making

It was a hot day and it had got to May’s head. She fell in the kitchen before Peter could get there. He was sitting on the couch watching TV when his spider senses went off and he bolted towards the feeling.

The feeling of fear

The feeling of pain

The feeling of falling.

The second he got to his unconscious aunt he lifted her up and onto the couch, and called.

He called who he though was 911

He called and a familiar voice answered unbothered and unknowing

“Key kid, how was school?”

Peter felt his heart clench at the sound of the voice, the voice that was Tony’s and suddenly he couldn’t breathe, the air was thick and his lungs were tight and it just didn’t match and it didn’t fit through. His mind went through thoughts, thoughts he shouldn’t have been thinking in his time of crisis. Thoughts of not just loosing May, but also loosing Tony. Where would he be if they were both gone and there was nothing left for him. He thought May to be his mother and he thought Tony to be his father, they might not be blood, but they were his and there was nothing else too it.

He heard words over the phone that wouldn’t register until later.

Later didn’t come too long after as Tony blew down his front door to his apartment, ironman suited and ready to fight.

That’s when he thought back, thought back to those words

“Pete? You there?” … Tony

“Boss, Mr Parker seems to be having a severe anxiety attack, and his Aunt is unconscious” … and that must have been F.R.I.D.A.Y

How would she even be able to tell anything through a phone call? He decided he didn’t even want to know.

Peter was thrown from his thoughts as a hand that laid pressure to his shoulder and brought him to reality. He looked up to his mentor/father figure then to May.

“What happened? Did you call an ambulance?” Tony asked with concern

“I thought I did, but you answered. And I didn’t catch her, she was just… and I was-“ Peter fumbled through words not quite filling a sentence.

“Peter, hey, hey. Breathe with me okay, just breathe” Tony said levelling him self to match the kid.

Peter took a moment to listen, matching his breaths to Tony’s, listening to the rhythm of Tonys battered heart.

He let out a long breath before speaking again “Tony” Peter looked from the mans chest up to his eyes “May has cancer”

Not ten minutes later Tony had flown May to the hospital in his suit

And the second Pepper and Happy arrived to pick Peter up he was in the car and pulled into Pepper’s arms.

They arrived and were ushered in by the hospital security to a hospital floor Peter didn’t even know existed, he soon learned they had a special floor made especially for the higher ups, celebrities and people the press would want to get a hold of.

The moment he saw Tony sitting in a chair looking out to nothing, he ran to him.

He ran like he was being chased and didn’t want to look back to the terrifying scene behind him

The terrifying scene that would do nothing but shatter his world from within

The terrifying scene that was the worst villain of all

The worst villain of all that was a cancerous Aunt May

He melted into the arms of the billionaire, the billionaire that could do nothing more than be there for his kid. Because there was nothing more he could do, this isn’t any problem that Tony had thought about on a personal level. This isn’t any problem he can fix with his weapons and or his money.

This problem is Cancer

And Cancer has no cure

Peter sank low until he was huddled on Tony’s lap on the chair crying loud enough for a few sad faces to turn to the sight from the two other families who were seated in the room

Crying loud enough for the nurses walking through to slow down and witness the sight

Crying loud enough to drown out the inevitable sound of the everlasting hospital beeps that came through the doors to left

five minutes later he was asleep, Tonys arms wrapped around him tight and comforting

His exhaustion got the better of him, from the anxiety attack, the growing panic within the past hour and a half and the constant use of his fast healing eating away at his metabolism trying to find a problem his brain couldn’t locate due to the lack of physicality, there was no other way to go than to sleep.

He woke up with a start getting a wheeze from the man beneath him, he woke up because he heard the accelerated heart beat and fast paced step of a person he couldn’t match a scent too as someone he knew.

Because he didn’t, it was the doctor.

The new doctor Tony managed to scrounge up from no where.

“Sorry” Peter said to Tony before moving too the seat next to him, still close enough to be in contact with, because that right now is the only think keeping Peter grounded

Because that right now is the only think keeping Peter from swinging into something too dangerous for him to handle

“Are you all here for May Parker?” The doctor sounded kind looking to the four nodding their heads

“What happened? Whats wrong with her?” Peter asked, his voice was small and he sounded like he was about to cry again and Tony wrapped a loose arm around his shoulder pulling him closer until the seat divider wouldn’t let them.

“We gave Miss Parker some fluids, but she has an extremely low guarded immune system right now due to the cancer. I believe she has picked up a bug, possibly due to the weather change. She will be needed to be monitored over the next week or so and I’ll be sending home some medication she will have to take until she’s better.”

“Is she awake?” Peter asks the doctor sitting up a little straighter

“She is” the doctor says with a smile “she’s just got to finish this lot of fluid and she will be fine to go back home”

“Thanks Doc” Tony says with a small smile of gratitude

“She’s in room 12, you’re more than welcome to go see her” The doctor didn’t even finish his sentence before Peter had left their sight.

“Anything else you want to add Doc, without the kid here?” Tony said standing and fixing his suit

“I read her file, the doctor she had gave her no more than three years. Looking over his findings and analysing the tests we just done… I don’t think” he sighs “I don’t think she has that long”

Tony visibly stiffens at the doctors words “so how long do you think?” He puts his clenched fists in his pant pockets

“Four, maybe five months max… I’m sorry, but I’d start to prepare for the inevitable future Mr Stark.” The doctor has a perfectly practiced sorry look on his face, he flips the folder under his arm and walks off leaving Tony in a state of shock

Leaving Tony in a state of denial

Leaving Tony in a state of sadness

A state of sadness not only for May, but for Peter too. Tony is all the kid has left and he knows that, Peter has told him once before. Once was enough for it to stick, deep in his brain to be remembered for the rest of his life. He has to help his kid

His kid

He has too

1 month

1 month later and that’s just what he had to do and not just willingly this time, it was legally bound.

May finalised her will to leave Peter to Tony

May finalised her will to leave her boy to a man she had once despised

A man she had once despised, but learned to love

She learned to love not as a companion, she learned to love as a friend, as family

She learned to love for her boy, her Peter

Her Peter that turned into their Peter

Their Peter that was now only his Peter

Only his Peter because she was gone and Tony was all he had left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> made mum read the first two.. she cried. Lmao y'all ain't ready

How?

How could he tell this kid?

This kid full of so much hope, so much heart

Tony didn’t know, he had no idea how to say anything

So he didn’t

Instead, he done the absolute most that he could.

He moved them into the compound upstate during the summer when Peter finished school and they started heavily on May’s bucket list that Peter insisted she write.

They went to Disney land, to a drive in theatre in a small town, May and Pepper went to a spa weekend, watched the Northern Lights in Alaska, watched the NBA court side, dined in an underwater restaurant, and swam with dolphins.

Peter sat down at breakfast, bowl of cereal in one hand and sheet of paper AKA the bucket list in the other.

“So next up on the list is…” Peter paused for the dramatic effect “Floating lanterns”

“Floating lanterns?” Tony asked from his seat looking to May for an answer

She rolled her eyes with a shy smile as she sunk back into her seat.

Peter listened as her bones crunched together when she moved, his enhanced hearing was always thought to be a useful tool in the field of robberies and sex offenders or even just the simple kitten stuck in a tree, but he never thought it to be a trial of punishment, a misfortune and hindrance.

He could hear the hardship and misfortune of Mays bones being eaten as she lived, he heard the silent breaths of pain she would make when it got too hard, heard her cry her self to sleep in the next room every night, he could hear her deteriorate every moment of every day.

And it was heartbreaking.

He never told anyone, the way her smell had changed or how he heard the slower pace of her heart, the way he felt her tremble as she walked, the way his senses went off every time she coughed.

He could smell her rotting from within, he could hear her body’s main functions as they were weakening, he could taste the bitterness of death in the air as she walked by, feel her bones through her three layers of clothes when they hugged, he could see the way her smile wasn’t real anymore and how the sparkle turned dim in her eyes.

And it was heartbreaking

“May’s favourite Disney movie is Tangled” Peter said smiling at his aunt.

A week later and the four of them had piled into the car and were driven by Happy to a sky lantern festival, that to no ones knowledge other than Tony didn’t exist until a week ago.

May slept most of the way, trying to save her energy for the delights of the night.

Peter looked over her. The dark circles under her eyes had depended, her lips were chapped and her skin was as pale as it had ever been.

This week had been the hardest she’s had so far, most of the time spent in bed or on the couch huddled up with a bottle of oxygen. Peter had to help her walk until Wednesday when he had started carrying her instead.

Once they arrived they all retracted from the car and Peter helped May into the wheelchair that was stationed in the boot. He wrapped a thick blanket around her shoulders and they set off to the direction of the festival.

There was live music and fair food, kids ran around on a sugar craze from ride to ride as the parents watched from picnic blankets on the grass. There was a lake that glowed gold from the subtle fairy lights that hung from the trees. And the full moon was enough for the festival goers to find their way in the dark.

Peter and Tony went on the tea cup ride and May, Happy and Pepper laughed at the shades of green Tony phased to as Peter spun them around. They then, over beside the lake, took a place on the large picnic rug that was decorated with copious pillows and blankets. Peter lifted May to the floor and surrounded her with the pillows.

They sat and talked and laughed, the mood quieted as an announcement was called and the empty blankets on the grass were filled with families and couples.

Soon the night sky blossomed in a gleam of light as hundreds of floating lanterns lifted to the stars.

Peter watched the glow return to May’s cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes shone bright and her smile, her smile was real, and genuine and true.

She was happy, and for the first time in three months so was he.

As Peter began to fiddle with the Lantern Tony handed to him May held his arm and turned his attention to her vaguely.

“Peter” May said in her rasp voice slowly removing her oxygen mask from her face.

He didn’t look at her fully, just made a hum of noise to let her know he was listening, because how do you light the stupid thing?

She gave a small smile at his concentrating face before speaking again “Thank you for all this” she said so sweetly.

“Huh?...” he looked at her sideways before back to the lantern “oh, yeah, um that’s okay, May” his tongue was out now and his head almost inside the lantern figuring out the details of how the thing works, because is this string thing for anything?

“You’re a good kid Pete, I don’t want you to ever change the way you care for people, promise me that” her voice was smaller now, full of emotion… but smaller.

“Yeah” he tipped the lantern back to the right side up “I know” Peter said, his voice matching May’s quietness as he picked up the lighter.

The others were doing their own thing, leaving the two to this moment, Pepper and Tony were close, but far enough away to leave them be, lighting their own lantern and watching as it floated into the night sky. Happy was over at the popcorn stand.

Peter fired up the lighter and held it over a wick that he had found he had to unwrap around a ring inside the lantern.

“I love you” she said

“Yes! I got it!” Peter said excitedly as he watched the flame flicker inside the lantern.

He turned to May a smile wide on his face holding the lantern to his Aunt “May I-“

His smile was gone

…”May?”

Gone like May’s breathe

“Aunt May?”

Gone like May’s beat of her heart

“no” he whispered “no… no, no, no”

Gone like May’s life

“TONY!” Peter screamed across the field as his face contorted to cry, but he didn’t.

He couldn’t.

Peter held out his hand and slowly let his finger fall along the side of her face, pushing her hair behind her ear. He leaned forward and placed a kiss to her forehead before clasping her hand in his own. He moved the lantern closer and watched the light fill the crevices of her skin. He lifted her hand within his own so together the would raise the lantern into the night.

Tony ran over to the scared voice, the scared voice of Peter.

He stopped at the sight before him, Pepper by his side and shortly followed by Happy, popcorn long forgotten.

They all watched as Peter kissed his Aunt on the top of her head, then raised her arm with his own lifting the last lantern to the sky.

It danced and flowed between the others as it blended into the plague of light above them.

Tony looked back to Peter, Peter who was clutching onto his Aunt’s hand, his Aunt’s hand that didn’t squeeze back.

He watched it float away, Peter watched the lantern for what felt like hours, but was only minutes.

watched as it caught up to the few that were left, the few that were left that soon were gone.

They were gone and it was alone, alone like Peter felt.

Alone drifting off to an unknown destination, with no purpose.

But Peter had a purpose, his purpose was to care.

Care for people he didn’t know, care for people he did.

Care for people that sometimes might not even deserve it.

Care for himself.

Because he made a promise, a promise made not but moments ago.

But he still felt alone, like the lantern

The lantern that was all he could see, until it was nothing but another star in the sky… Just as May now was.

A star as bright as her smile and a star that shined as the light in her eyes once had.

He didn’t let go of her hand, her hand that soon turned cold.

Turned cold like the lake that glimmered before them.

“I love you too” he whispered as a lonely tear rolled down the skin of his cheek, looking up to the stars where he sent his Aunt’s soul with the lantern.

He looked back to her, looked back to her corpse that was cold and still and quiet.

Everything was quiet.

Quiet when Tony came

Quiet when he moved him away

Quiet as the paramedics moved her to the ambulance with lights that danced over the scene

Quiet as they drove home

Everything was quiet.


End file.
